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Boeing to purchase Spirit Aero for $4.7 bln in effort to take on quality lapses

Boeing has agreed to buy back Spirit AeroSystems for $4.7 billion in stock, ending the neartwodecade self-reliance of the world's largest standalone aerostructures company.

Boeing's arch-rival, Airplane, which became a Spirit customer after Boeing spun it off, will handle the supplier's. loss-making Europe-focused activities in return for hundreds of. countless dollars of compensation.

The offer follows a cabin panel blow out on a Boeing. 737 MAX airplane in January sprawled into a massive. reputational and safety crisis, with regulatory examination on. Boeing's quality lapses.

Here is a timeline of recent problems surrounding limit. given that the crashes in 2018 and 2019:

OCTOBER 2018: A Lion Air MAX aircraft crashes in Indonesia, killing. all 189 individuals on board.

NOVEMBER 2018: The FAA and Boeing start evaluating the requirement for. software application or design modifications to 737 MAX jets following the Lion. Air crash. MARCH 2019: An Ethiopian Airlines MAX crashes, killing all 157. individuals on board. China ends up being the very first nation to ground the. MAX, followed by others consisting of the U.S. Federal Aviation. Administration. APRIL 2019: The FAA forms a worldwide team to examine the. security of 737 MAX. Boeing cuts regular monthly production by nearly 20%. SEPTEMBER 2019: Boeing's board produces a long-term safety. committee to oversee advancement, manufacturing and operation of. its airplane.

OCTOBER 2019: Boeing fires Kevin McAllister, the top executive. of its business aircrafts department. DECEMBER 2020: The company fires CEO Dennis Muilenburg in the. wake of the twin crashes.

JANUARY 2020: Boeing suspends 737 production, its biggest. assembly-line stop in more than 20 years.

MAY 2020: Boeing resumes 737 MAX production at a low rate. JUNE 2020: Boeing begins a series of long-delayed flight tests. of its revamped 737 MAX with regulators at the controls. NOVEMBER 2020: The FAA raises the grounding order, permitting the. 737 MAX to fly again. DECEMBER 2020: Congress passes legislation to reform how the FAA. licenses new planes, including requiring makers to. reveal particular safety-critical information to the regulator.

JANUARY 2021: The European Union Aviation Safety Company authorizes. the MAX's return to service in Europe. MARCH 2021: China's aviation regulator says major security. worry about limit required to be correctly dealt with before. carrying out flight tests.

APRIL 2021: Boeing stops 737 MAX deliveries after electrical. issues re-ground part of the fleet.

NOVEMBER 2021: Current and former Boeing directors reach a. $ 237.5 million settlement with shareholders to settle claims. over security oversight of the 737 MAX.

OCTOBER 2022: The FAA tells Boeing that some key documents. submitted as part of the accreditation evaluation of the 737 MAX 7. are incomplete and others require a reassessment. DECEMBER 2022: Congress agrees to extend a deadline for new. standards for modern-day cockpit signals stemming from the 2020. legislation after intense lobbying from Boeing.

APRIL 2023: Boeing stops briefly deliveries of some 737 MAXs to deal. with a new supplier quality issue including non-compliant. fittings. JULY 2023: Boeing's first delivery of the 737 MAX 7 is postponed. to 2024.

AUGUST 2023: Boeing determines a new 737 MAX supplier quality. issue involving poorly drilled holes on the aft pressure. bulkhead.

SEPTEMBER 2023: Boeing 737 MAX deliveries fall to their most affordable. levels considering that August 2021.

DECEMBER 2023: Boeing makes its first direct shipment of a 787. Dreamliner to China considering that 2019, viewed as a precursor to the. nation potentially thawing deliveries of the 737 MAX. JANUARY 2024: A mid-air cabin blowout forces Alaska Air to. carry out an emergency landing of its recently acquired 737 MAX 9. aircraft, prompting the FAA to ground 171 of these jets and. initiate an investigation. The FAA bars Boeing from increasing. MAX output, however lifts the grounding of MAX-9s when evaluations. were finished. FEBRUARY 2024: The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board. released its initial report on the Alaska Air occurrence. According to the examination, the door panel that flew off the. jet mid-flight appeared to be missing out on four key bolts.

MARCH 2024: The FAA's 737 MAX production audit discovered several. instances where Boeing and supplier Spirit AeroSystems. allegedly stopped working to comply with making quality assurance. requirements. This came days after Boeing said it remained in. preliminary speak with buy Spirit.

The crisis might suggest Boeing will need more time to strike secret. financial targets for coming years, its CFO warned. The. planemaker also stated top manager Dave Calhoun would step down at. completion of the year.

APRIL 2024: 737 MAX production falls as U.S. regulators step up. factory checks and employees slow the assembly line outside. Seattle to complete impressive work.

May 2024: The U.S. Department of Justice states Boeing breached. its responsibilities in a 2021 contract that shielded it from. criminal prosecution over 737 MAX crashes in 2018 and 2019.

The FAA head says he does not expect the agency will quickly. offer Boeing the authority to boost 737 MAX production.

June 2024: U.S. senators attack Boeing CEO for the planemaker's. tarnished safety record.

July 1, 2024: Boeing obtains Spirit back in an all-stock offer. for $4.7 billion in equity worth. The offer comes as Boeing,. which had offered Spirit in 2005 to cut expenses, tries to solve. its quality hurdles and speed up jet deliveries.

(source: Reuters)